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Castro's Cuba always punched above its weight

Love him or hate him, Fidel Castro was a political giant. Not only was he revered by a majority of Cubans, but he was held in great esteem globally.

Borrowing from Cuba's tragic colonial past under the Spaniards and U.S. subservience and dependence, "El comandante" Fidel was the chief architect of Cuban foreign policy in the post-1959 era. Area specialists have long said that revolutionary Cuba has punched well above its weight internationally.

Like the man himself, Cuba -- a tiny developing nation, and a population of barely 11 million -- was considered a country of enormous stature, a miniature superpower, if you will.

With Castro at the helm and a keen eye toward the father of Cuban independence, José Martí, Cuba's foreign policy since 1959 has been based on four central guiding principles: a will to grandeur, international solidarity, counter-dependency and a duty to serve others. Cuba stayed true to these long-held ideals and precepts.

Cuba has consistently sought to conduct itself grandly and with an overriding sense of autonomy on the world stage. Castro made his country's presence felt in international and regional forums.

Castro was never shy about "exporting" revolution to other countries in Latin America and beyond. This was all part of how a small country acting big distinguished itself in the world.

Solidarity was (and still is) an important touchstone of Cuban foreign policy under Castro. It is mostly about connecting with like-minded people in the rest of the world, building friendships and mutual respect, and genuinely caring about those struggling in other countries and regions.

Even with formidable financial constraints, Cuba provided development assistance to a host of least-developed countries, sometimes materially and other times in terms of scientists, educators and construction workers. Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces were dispatched to friendly states such as Angola and Ethiopia in the 1970s and 1980s to demonstrate solidarity and unfailing support.

Most important was Castro's commitment to counter-dependency strategies and finding useful counterweights to the Soviet Union and then its superpower neighbour the United States. There was just no way that Castro's Cuba was ever going to be beholden or submissive to Washington. That drive for Cuban independence goes a long way toward explaining the country's ability to survive and adjust quickly, to establish close economic relations with China, Mexico, Brazil and Canada, and to ensure that it never finds itself in a position of weakness.

Lastly, was Castro's implacable belief in his citizens' duty to serve abroad, manifested most strikingly in Cuba's medical internationalism. Whether it is offering to students in poor countries free medical training at Cuba's highly regarded professional schools, or providing cut-rate prices for pharmaceuticals and HIV-AIDS anti-retrovirals, Cuba has engendered enormous international goodwill and respect. Cuba's medical diplomacy has resulted in thousands of Cuban doctors sent abroad.

Fidel Castro was instrumental in putting Cuba on the map, carving out a unique global role for the country and garnering a tremendously positive reputation.

There is also no disputing what the Americans feared most about Fidel Castro and Cuba: that it would be a model for other countries to emulate and strive to become. Clearly, the big man has left a gigantic legacy in foreign affairs that will endure for many decades to come inside Cuba and in the hearts of those in the developing world.

Peter McKenna is professor and chair of political science at the University of Prince Edward Island.